Water Alone
by BecauseHeroesNeverDie
Summary: -10/3 oneshot- Alphonse had been afraid. The water would slip down, into the cracks in his helmet, and wash away his connection to the world. Then he'd be alone.


Staring out of the ten thousandth train window, watching trees, fields, towns, and skies slide back and forth in a never ending circle, Edward knew that he was glad he wasn't alone. Alphonse was talking, somewhere far off, somewhere beside him, his voice running in soft circles, describing where they were headed, where they had been. He stopped a moment, slipped on a word and couldn't figure out just where he had left off.

"When we get back to Resembool, what'll we do?" Edward prompted, turning away from the window a moment.

"Oh, that's where I was!" Alphonse smiled with his voice, just like he always had. Like when they had yelled from across the bedroom, tucked safely in bed. Edward could hear him getting ready to laugh. There was a quiet buildup, a tiny squeak, a small intake of breath.

Alphonse continued speaking and Edward stared into the window, fascinated by the way their reflections danced in front of the ever-moving scenery. There they were. A pale boy slouching against the seat and an endlessly tall metal man sitting with his back perfectly straight.

Edward couldn't tell the reflections apart as they disappeared in the sunlight that shone brightly against the window. They were brothers, of course, and their resemblance had always been striking.

Alphonse fidgeted a little in his seat, knowing that Edward was only half listening to him. He couldn't entirely say why he kept talking, but he knew that it made both of them feel better. His voice, however distorted, was almost the same as it had always been. A blind man couldn't have guessed what he looked like. But Alphonse didn't know a blind man, so he had to accept the strange eyebrow raises that came whenever someone thought that his voice and his body didn't seem to match at all.

The train whistle sounded, bouncing around in the empty space of his helmet. He lifted a hand to his head, thinking that it might still the sound. The whistling faded after a moment.

Alphonse turned his head to take a quick look out the window. Edward had fallen asleep, his head bouncing against the window with every lurch forward the train took. Alphonse laughed to himself, shaking his head. The rattling that followed drowned out his laughter.

He sat an hour or so, entirely quiet. He tried feeling sorry for himself, but his mind always leapt to the most comforting thought that it could find.

"_Don't worry, you're not alone."_

It had been raining, Alphonse remembered, that time a month or so after he and his brother had left home forever.

Alphonse had been afraid. The water would slip down, into the cracks in his helmet, and wash away his connection to the world. Then he'd be alone.

"Hold it over your head," Edward demanded, pushing his coat into his fingers.

"But, brother, you need it."

"No, I don't."

"What if you get sick?"

"If I get sick, I'll get better," Edward poked at the chain of his pocket watch, wrapping it around his finger, prying his finger out, "If a drop of this rain hits your bloodseal, you're gone forever."

"But—"

"No." Edward walked ahead of him, firm and unyielding, letting the rain pound down on him as he walked as casually as if it were a summer afternoon, the sun shining in a long-lost perfect world.

"You could…" Alphonse called after him.

"I couldn't. I don't plan on leaving you, Al. Don't even worry. There isn't a stupid cold that's going to stop Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric!" He used his most grand voice, spreading his arms wide, still ignoring the rain. "You'll always have to deal with me! You'll never be alone."

Alphonse laughed, holding that impossibly small coat over his head, making sure it didn't get cut, taking large steps to catch up to Edward, trying to hold it at just the right angle to keep them both dry. He knew that Edward was both joking and being serious. He was making a promise he had no intention of ever breaking so easily, as casually as he spoke the words.

As long as Edward Elric's word was good, Alphonse knew he would not be alone.

_**Really fast oneshot written from 11:10ish to 11:40...I can't produce anything reasonably good in this time. I always rush my 10/3 stuff, because I think that the writing should start and end on 10/3. so yeah**_


End file.
